Posts Tagged ‘World Health Organization’

This year is quickly winding down and with it, some unpleasant memories may, thankfully, fade. But for our interest in obesity and health, 2025 has been a very eventful year of progress, with five milestones that are particular standouts. So let’s pause and celebrate this progress. 1. Global Embrace of Obesity Care Perhaps the biggest […]

This is huge news and we’ve been waiting for it a very long time. For the first time ever, the World Health Organization (WHO) is embracing obesity treatment in a new global guidance issued yesterday. From the head of WHO, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, came words we wondered if we would ever hear: “Our new […]

Can we think global and act local on chronic diseases and obesity? At the United Nations General Assembly meeting this week, quite a few people gave it a try – with mixed results. At the end of the day yesterday, no one was terribly surprised when U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. threw a […]

This was a pleasant surprise. For years, the World Health Association avoided the idea that obesity is an actual chronic disease. Today we have evidence for a big shift in thinking. Three senior officials from WHO published a viewpoint in JAMA yesterday to clearly say not only that obesity is a chronic disease, but also […]

Let’s get right to the point. This point is that it’s always best to stick with the truth. Sometimes it is inconvenient, but it is definitely the best choice. So we’re disappointed in you, WHO. We love you and hated to see you telling a fib this week when you issued a news bulletin, saying […]

For the last two days we’ve been gathered with a small group of passionate advocates from all over the world, finding ways to collaborate for progress in health policy related to obesity. The change comes in increments. Obesity relates to cultures, food, and health systems that differ significantly all over the world. So finding a […]

Today we’re at the WHO for the WHA learning all about NCDs and UHC. Alphabet soup for lunch. Obesity? It was hiding behind the chia seeds at the breakfast buffet. Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and universal health coverage (UHC) are big priorities at the 72nd World Health Assembly (WHA) in Geneva today. But within the global […]

This should not surprise us. Political squabblers have seized upon breastfeeding as a partisan issue. Over the weekend, the New York Times reported: A resolution to encourage breast-feeding was expected to be approved quickly and easily by the hundreds of government delegates who gathered this spring in Geneva for the United Nations-affiliated World Health Assembly. […]